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Sunday, January 11, 2015

Journey to an 800 Number, by E.L. Konigsburg

The late, great E.L. Konigsburg wrote at least fifteen books
during her time. She’s best known for “From
the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler”, which is a staple on school
reading lists. Don’t get me wrong, I loved
that book too, but today I want to highlight my absolute favorite book of hers,
“Journey to an 800 Number”. This is one
of those books where I got to the end and couldn’t tell exactly what I had just
read, but I sure knew that I had enjoyed it!

Maximillian “Bo” Stubbs is a prep school student who lives
with his mother, who recently remarried.
He’s excited about moving in with his rich stepfather and living a life
of luxury…but not until the month-long honeymoon is over! In the meantime, Bo will be staying with his
father Woody, a traveling man who owns a camel and makes a living by showing
the animal at trade shows and carnivals.
To complicate matters even more, Bo keeps bumping into a girl named
Chloe, whose mother bounces between trade shows and forges checks to pay their
way!

This is one of Konigsburg’s lesser-known novels, so it might
be a little hard to find at first. Check
your library for a copy, or maybe your local used book store. It’s worth the search, though, since this
book seems to be all about people who are searching for their identities. I don’t want to ruin any of the ending with
spoilers, but it almost seemed like Woody was the only one who was really at
peace with himself. He knew that he
would always be nothing more than a man who owned a camel, but he seemed to be content
with that.

This book is offbeat, quirky, and definitely worth the short
amount of time it takes to read. Even if
you don’t enjoy it as much as “Basil E. Frankweiler” or “The View From Saturday”,
that’s completely okay. Just because it’s
my favorite of her books, that doesn’t it has to be yours too. Remember, the whole point of this project is
to highlight those books that young men might not have heard of! If you’ve opened yourself up to reading
something new, then our mission has been accomplished!